OT - "Daddy Rich" passes away
Sad. Chuck Daly was my favorite coach ever, in any sport.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090509/ts_nm/us_nba_daly;_ylt=ArmgVIRehDqB…
He was great. Just great.
in detroit today....
I know it sounds cliche but he was a players coach. He held that bad boys squad together. Rodman didn't go psycho til he left.
I remember the year they won their second championship. They were playing Portland in game one of the series and were looking sluggish the whole game. It was like five minutes to go in a tight game that was, starting to look like, Portland was about to take from the Pistons when Chuck called one of those momentum freezing timeouts that they call in basketball.
The guys come to the sideline, sit down on the bench and await instrutions. Chuck doesn't say a word. They sit there and stare at him and he stares at them. Then right before the timeout is over he pulls out some of that smelling stuff and starts putting it up under all of their noses. Isiah asks, "What are you doing?" And Chuck replies, "Wake up!"
They come out of the time out and Isiah goes on a tear and they win the game. He was smart enough of a coach to know when to coach and when to push.
I agree about Rodman. I always thought that keeping Rodman on the Bell Curve while getting the most out of his talent may have been Daly's greatest achievement.
The Pistons were really the worst franchise in the NBA until Daly taught them how to win. Older posters may remember when Channel 4's Al Ackerman used to use a graphic that said "Pathetic Pistons" when he was reading their scores on the 11 o'clock news. This was soon imitated by a Toledo station who had a graphic that said "Cadavaliers" for "their" team.
Chuck Daly put an end to all of that. He gave us something to cheer about when there wasn't a heck of a lot for fans of any professional sport in Detroit to cheer for otherwise. And the Pistons have been a lot prouder franchise for it.
He was all class. They just don't seem to make coaches like that anymore. He will be missed. Sad few weeks for Detroit sports with George Kell, The Bird, and now Daddy Rich.
Stylish. He dressed with such flair, That may sound superficial, but that's just one of the things that made him unique. Chuck was a Detroiter and he made my basketball world go round. I got mad man love for you Chuck see you at the Cross Roads.
I began to play basketball right when the Bad Boys were winning their titles. Coach Daly looked and acted like a man with style, sophistication and an air of leadership. He kept my favorite team pulling the right way, which as we learned later on with Isiah and Rodman, was an amazing achievement.
I love the man and I'm sad he's gone.